Confrontations
by Clever Lass
Summary: Spike confronts Buffy Faith confronts herself. Takes place immediately after Faith and Buffy's body switch.
1. Default Chapter

_Disclaimer: All characters property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.  
  
Timeline: Takes place immediately after the body switch between Buffy and Faith; in this story Faith goes to Reno instead of to LA. Angel is working with Kate, the cop in this story._  
  
**Confrontations  
**  
_"I get this chip out of my head, you and I are going to have a confrontation!" -- Spike, to Buffy, -- "Who Are You"  
_  
Chapter 1  
  
Spike didn't know what hit him. One moment he was all ready to exchange insults with the slayer just like old times, and the next moment she had him at her mercy without a blow being struck. With just her words, she had brought him to the point where he was mere seconds away from grabbing her, crushing her against his body, bruising her mouth with his own, and dragging her off to his place, making her forget even the name of that soldier boy she had the audacity to be dating. He couldn't even remember the last time he had been this worked up. Not with Harmony, certainly -- hell, not even with Dru for the last several decades. The slayer had brought him almost to his knees with just the power of her eyes meeting his, her moist red lips forming words of impossible eroticism, the feel of her breath mere inches from his face -- and her hand in his crotch. Then she left. She left!  
  
He hurled his beer bottle as hard as he could, wishing it could shatter even louder, and stormed out. He went home to his crypt, went inside, and began pounding his head against the granite wall. Slam, slam, slam, and it didn't even hurt as much as that foolish chip.  
  
The chip. Placed there by the goodness of the slayer's impossibly good boyfriend. He growled, his face taking on its demonic ridges. He had to find some way to get the chip removed! He stayed awake long after the sun rose, concocting and discarding plan after plan. He finally came up with a possibility that might work, and, relaxing a little went to bed for the day.  
  
Even after several days, Faith still sometimes felt twinges of Buffiness. It didn't make any sense. They had only switched bodies -- there had been no emotional or mental interaction. But even so, sometimes she felt an occasional pang of guilt as she lay under her boyfriend of the day, dispassionately watching him writhe and pant for his pleasure. She sighed.  
  
Well, she had to do this, didn't she? Otherwise she'd have to find a place to stay and some way to eat, which would mean finding a job. She couldn't do that, because she had to keep on the move. This way, the boys fed her and gave her a place to sleep -- although, she thought candidly, sometimes the boys kept her so busy she didn't get much of that.  
  
Her boy finished up and rolled off her with a groan, falling asleep almost instantly. Faith got up to take a shower. As she washed herself clean of any trace of tonight's encounter, she couldn't help comparing it to the one time she'd been with Riley. She hadn't known sex could be like that -- it was like some mythical ideal of "love-making" that had never existed to her before that.  
  
It was new.  
  
Being Buffy, even for a brief time, had taught her a great deal, even changed her. The things that never used to bother her, like using a guy for food and shelter while letting him use her for sex, were starting to get to her now. Later, lying in the dark in someone else's bed, she began to understand why she had felt so unhappy and out of place working on the side of Buffy and All That Was Right. In the beginning, they had treated her with respect, like one of the team -- and she just couldn't respect anyone who had the poor taste to show her any. Joining the mayor's side was different. He treated her like a princess, but then again, it felt more appropriate because he was evil.  
  
She just couldn't feel comfortable being trusted by good people. She felt dishonest, like if they knew the real Faith they would hate her. So by joining the side of evil, she had proved herself right.  
  
She could still hear Buffy's voice ringing in her ears, "The reason we forgot about you was because we wanted to!" Faith sighed again and drifted off into a troubled sleep.  
  
Next morning Rob was gone just as she'd known he would be. Or was it Paul? Don? She couldn't keep track. Shaking her head, she got up and made herself some coffee and gathered her things together. Sitting on her shoes was a note with a $20 bill.  
  
_"Fathe,  
  
Thanks. Have to do it again sometime.  
  
Tom."_  
  
Faith slapped her forhead. Tom! Of course! She dressed and drank her coffee, rifled through his drawers and helped herself to the modest stash of cash under his socks, then placed the note in the center of Tom's bed and very carefully spat on it. She left without a second look.  
  
Several hours later her bus arrived in Reno. She disembarked and gazed with a smile at all the casinos surrounding her. She began walking around, and half an hour later she found herself standing outside a gym, eyeing the "Help Wanted" sign, and watching the women who were going in and out.  
  
First things first, though. With her unerring talent for finding the dark side of a city, she found a guy who would make her a realistic fake ID and social security card. That ordered, she set out to change her look. She got her hair cut in an older, sleeker style and colored to light brown. She lucked out at a Goodwill store and found an outfit that matched the sort of thing she'd seen the women at the gym wearing.  
  
After picking up her new ID with her new name, she went back to the gym and approached the receptionist. "Uh, hi. I see you're looking for help. Can I fill out an application?"  
  
"Certainly! My name's June," said the receptionist, smiling at her. "The manager's out right now, but he should be back by the time you finish filling this out."  
  
"Thanks," Faith told her with an almost-smile. She took the application and, under "Name", she carefully wrote "Elizabeth Corey." Then the smile spread all across her face as she looked at the shiny new driver's license with that name on it. Still smiling, she finished filling out the application and turned it in. The manager was there by then, and asked to see her. Having given all mythical Boston names and addresses for previous work, she was reasonably sure that no one would bother checking her references.  
  
"You're from the Northeast," the manager commented. His name was Dave. "Seems like everyone in this town is from somewhere else. How did you happen to come to Reno? How long you been here?"  
  
Faith answered honestly, "About three hours. I just thought I'd like to see it, that's all."  
  
Dave grinned. "Well, let's see what you can do. We need an aerobics instructor, a lifeguard, and several other positions filled. Seems no one ever actually stays in Reno; they just pass through on their way to somewhere else." He smiled ruefully and led her into the gym to test her.  
  
After watching her swim the length of the pool underwater twice in a borrowed bathing suit, he grinned. Faith climbed out, dripping, and Dave shook her soggy hand. "Elizabeth, how soon can you start?"  
  
Faith grinned. "Call me Liz. I can start tomorrow. I still need to find somewhere to stay for tonight."  
  
"Oh, you can use the studio if you want. No one ever uses it anymore, and there used to be a folding bed and little kitchen in the back. I guess I shouldn't be surprised if people are more interested in self-defense than dancing in this town."  
  
Dave showed her the studio with its tiny attached apartment, then left her there. Faith sat on the narrow bed and looked around in approval at the high mirrored walls. Out the window was a large dumpster, and she opened the window and slung her backpack of clothes through the window into it. "Goodbye, Faith!" she said. "Liz doesn't have room for you in her new place!"  
  
Buffy was just glad to have her own body back. Giles had given her the night off and she went to her mother's instead of the Bronze. She didn't know whether to tell her mother about the switch or not, but when Joyce didn't mention any odd behavior, Buffy just let it rest. Besides, it was nice to be home again, rather like old times only without the angst. Buffy felt safe and strangely reassured. She even told her mother a little bit about Riley.  
  
Riley. There was something a little off there, ever since the switch back. Riley had been distant. She found out he'd slept with Faith-as-Buffy, and even though he had thought it was her, it still bothered her. Even as she spoke glowingly of him to her mother, she realized that what bothered her was exactly that: Riley couldn't tell the difference. Even in the most intimate situation possible, he couldn't tell the difference between her and Faith.  
  
Riley just wanted a girlfriend, she decided. It didn't even necessarily have to be her. Buffy was tired of guys wanting her because they wanted a girl, not because they wanted her, Buffy Anne Summers, Vampire Slayer and college student.  
  
Joyce watched the tension slowly drain out of her daughter's shoulders through the course of the evening and smiled. Even though Buffy was all grown up now, with a boyfriend in the military and a schedule full of college classes, Joyce was still glad to see her relaxing at home.  
  
For the first time, she felt she could get to know this Buffy. She had never known the guarded, teenage Buffy because the slayer secret had to be kept. She had never even known the slayer-Buffy very well, because, honestly, she was afraid to inquire too closely. She knew it was dangerous; she didn't want to know how dangerous. But this Buffy, who sat across the table from her sipping tea and sharing her life, this Buffy was one Joyce would like to get to know. Buffy the adult.  
  
Buffy enjoyed the time with her mother more than she thought she would, but soon had to get back to campus. She had classes, had to call Giles, and had to talk to Riley. Oddly enough, Riley called as soon as she walked into her dorm room, asking her to come over. She went, glad of the chance so soon, but slightly worried about telling him she thought he should back off a little.  
  
She didn't have to.  
  
"Buffy," Riley began. "I don't know how to tell you this, so I'll make it straight." He stood up and paced the room, gesturing with his hands, while she sat still on his bed and watched. "Ever since that body-switching thing, you've been different. You've acted differently, talked differently... You take more chances. I realize you're used to working alone, but it's like this experience changed you. I don't know you anymore."  
  
"You never knew me, Riley," Buffy said, when he seemed to wind down. "You looked at me and saw what you wanted to see. You looked at me and saw a girl who would understand your double life, someone you could finally be with. You didn't see me. You even saw that girl when I wasn't even in this body."  
  
"Buffy, I already told you. I thought she was you. How could I have known?"  
  
Buffy looked up sharply. "How did she come into the room, when she was me?"  
  
Riley flushed. Faith-as-Buffy had slouched against the doorway looking sultry and calling him "Baby." She had just about asked him to spank her. She had not behaved as he had ever seen Buffy behave. "Well, she... uh..."  
  
Buffy had seen Faith on the prowl often enough to know how she moved, how she walked, when she was around her prey. Buffy nodded. "I thought so. You could easily have known. You just saw what you wanted to see."  
  
There was silence in the room. Riley continued pacing for a few minutes, then stopped and looked at her. She met his eyes with a level gaze. He dropped his. "Buffy, I don't think we should see each other anymore," he said.  
  
"That's what I think, too," Buffy replied evenly.  
  
"I mean, you've changed, and Forrest and the guys are saying you're distracting me, and -- what did you say?"  
  
"I'm not comfortable with a guy who only wants someone. I want a man who wants me." Buffy stood up. "It's okay, Riley. Take care of yourself, okay?"  
  
"Yeah, you too," Riley said, stunned. Buffy went out the door and closed it softly behind her, like closing a book and putting it away.  
  
Willow had gotten home while Buffy was at Riley's, so when the phone rang she picked it up. Spike breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't that blasted slayer. "'Allo, Red."  
  
"Spike? What do you want?"  
  
"I want some help. Can I stop by without getting staked?"  
  
"Buffy should be here any minute. It would probably be better for me to meet you somewhere. The library?"  
  
"Good. Be there in ten." He hung up, hoping this would work. He knew people, and he was betting he could get her to find out what he wanted to know. And he hoped she would be lulled by the harmlessness of his request.  
  
"Oh good, you're here," he greeted the little witch. "God, I hate this campus. I keep expecting those army boys to be hiding out around a corner somewhere."  
  
Willow smiled nervously. "Well, Spike, you don't exactly take pains to blend in. You still look exactly like the vampire they captured."  
  
"My looks are none of your business, Missy," he growled. "Now are you going to help me or not?"  
  
Willow stuttered, "Wh-wh-what do you want me to do? A-and what's in it for me?"  
  
Spike stared. So the little witch had grown a spine, eh? "I'll pay you, uh, ten dollars for you to get this address for me. To look it up on the net, hack into city records, whatever you have to do."  
  
"Fifty." There was a new software package Willow wanted.  
  
"Twenty."  
  
"Forty."  
  
"Twenty-five," Spike didn't really even have that much money -- that's why he needed the address.  
  
"Twenty-five?" Willow asked, incredulous.  
  
"Right, done, then." Spike interrupted.  
  
Willow gave him a sharp look, but he just blinked innocently at her. She sighed. "All right, whose address do you need?"  
  
"Angel's."  
  
"What? But you've been to his place in L.A."  
  
"No, I mean his old address. The apartment he used to live in before he bought that stupid gradiose mansion. I need the address."  
  
Willow's eyebrows lifted in surprise. She reached into her bag and brought out a small stone Tara had given her. "Hold this for a second, will you?" she handed it to Spike and he took it out of reflex... then found he couldn't put it down. Nor could he move to get up.  
  
Willow softly chanted something under her breath while Spike grumbled. Wouldn't you know he couldn't even get a stupid address without the slayer's little brats trying to work some mojo on him! She finished chanting, then explained. "Spike, I know you're still evil even though you can't hurt anyone, so I really want to know why you need this address. All this spell does is make you answer me truthfully." She giggled. "Ever see 'Liar, Liar'? It'll be like that."  
  
"Oh, sod it. That bloke had his life ruined for him by that little sprog. I'm not telling you a thing."  
  
"Why do you want Angel's old address?"  
  
"Because I want to break in and see if he left any money there, like he used to." Spike winced. "Oh, hell. I didn't want to tell you that!"  
  
Willow smiled. The spell was working. "Why do you need money?"  
  
"Why do you think? Because I can't hurt anyone, I can't rob my victims like I used to do, and I need to actually buy blood to survive! Plus I need to hire a doctor." Spike hung his head and thoroughly, fluently, cussed himself out.  
  
"What for?"  
  
"I want him to perform an operation. On me. To get the chip out." He swore again, glaring at her.  
  
"Why, exactly, do you want the chip out? Do you really miss the violence and blood that much?"  
  
"Hell, yeah! And I can't wait to confront the slayer." Spike buried his head in his hands and damned himself. He tried to stop talking, but Willow's insertion of the word "exactly," required him to answer completely. "I want her. After what she did to me, what she's been doing to me all these years... I want her. And if she fights me, I want to be able to fight her back."  
  
"You want to kill her?" Willow just wanted to clarify.  
  
Spike looked up, his dark eyes stormy and unreadable. "No. I just want her." He stared at her until she realized what he meant, then she blushed.  
  
She looked up again after a minute. "Do... do you love Buffy?" She asked hesitantly.  
  
Spike could have answered honestly even without Tara's enchanted stone in his fist. "I don't know." He took a deep, unneeded breath. "I haven't ever been able to forget her. All the women I've had since I left here --" and here he snorted. "Yeah, all two of them -- have been like her in some small way. I've tried to forget her, but I can't. I should move out of this town, but I can't. I should never have come back here, but I did. I even thought, with the gem of Amara -- but no, that didn't work out either. Yeah, I love her. And I hate her. I just don't know which one's going to win."  
  
Willow sat there in silence for a long while, staring at the table. Spike stared at the table, lost in a reverie. Willow thought hard. She had been doing research into vampire lore -- and corresponding with Angel via e-mail had certainly helped. She knew there was some sort of blood-bond possible between a human and a vampire in certain circumstances, and she wondered if it were possible to combine that with a magic spell to achieve the results she was beginning to envision in her mind. She stood up.  
  
"Spike, I'm going home." Spike started to protest, but Willow continued, "I am going to help you, but not for another couple of days. In the meantime, here's a couple of bucks for some blood. I'll come by your crypt with the address in two days, in the afternoon. OK?"  
  
He looked up. "Do I have a choice?"  
  
"Well, not really. Uh, one more thing." Willow took the stone from his hand and dropped it back into her pocket.  
  
"Oh, thank God!" Spike muttered. If a vampire could blush, he would have. As it was, he just ran.  
  
Willow went home to her dorm room with a lot to think about. To her surprise, Buffy was already there. They shared some girl talk about her hour-old breakup with Riley, and the reasons behind it.  
  
Buffy explained that she wanted a man who wouldn't be satisfied with just anyone, but who wanted her, and only her. Riley didn't appear to be that man. Plus, she was tired of having to hold back all the time -- when they sparred, she was afraid she'd hurt him; likewise when they were intimate. She just couldn't relax around him, for fear she would damage him accidently. Buffy mentioned Angel, but without bitterness for once. She just said she missed having someone to train with who was as strong as she was.  
  
Willow's eyes widened and she began thinking hard. As a test, she mentioned Spike. "If he didn't have the chip in his head, he'd be a good sparring partner -- we'd just have to make it so he couldn't hurt us first."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Let's see, Spike with implant, can't hurt anyone, but can't spar either. Spike without implant, dangerous vampire who wants to eat half of Sunnydale, but a good sparring partner. No, I'll still go with the implant. It's just a shame there can't be a happy medium," she joked.  
  
Willow smiled a secret smile and said, in a graceful change of topic, that in order to perform a protection spell she was working on, she wanted a little bit of Buffy's blood.  
  
Buffy blinked. "You want some..?"  
  
"Blood," Willow stated calmly. "It's the only way it'll work. It's something I've been working on with Tara. It's to protect you from vampires." Or one of them anyway, she added silently.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Oh...kay. Uh, does it have to be with a needle, or in a cup, or what?"  
  
"Well, it doesn't have to be sterile. It's a spell, not a lab test. It doesn't even have to be liquid. Do you have something that you bled on, before?"  
  
Buffy went to the closet and pulled out a balled-up yellow halter top mottled with brownish stains. "Will this do? It's from patrolling a couple weeks ago and I didn't get it to the laundry in time."  
  
"Perfect. Great. I should have the spell ready by the day after tomorrow." Willow smiled innocently, hating to lie to Buffy, but knowing she couldn't possibly tell her the real reason she wanted the blood. It was for a protection spell, she reminded herself.  
  
Willow spent the next day alternating between Tara's room, the library, her computer, and Giles' house. She didn't tell Giles what she was doing, and only told Tara the sketchiest outline. She read and surfed the net and emailed Angel and researched. Then she did it some more.  
  
Then she went back to her room and read Angel's email reply, and smiled. Of course! All the books had been saying the same thing, but in coded, prophesy-like language instead of the nitty-gritty details that Angel spelled out for her. Now she knew exactly what to do.  
  
The only problem was, how to get some of Spike's blood for the completion of the spell?  
  
She ended up simply asking him for it when she stopped by his crypt. "Spike, what if there was a way for me to help you get that chip out of your head, and give you an advantage with the slayer as well?"  
  
"You know something I don't know, Red?" He asked skeptically, leaning up on one elbow as he lay on the slab of granite he called a bed.  
  
Willow crossed her fingers. "Well, I found out a few things. One is the name of a forensic specialist who is open to... shall we say, outside projects? And the other is that Buffy and Riley broke up two days ago."  
  
Spike hid his elation. Rising gracefully to his feet, he approached her. "So, did you just come here to gossip about your mates, or do you have the address for me? I need to find some of Angel's stash if I'm going to hire this doctor. And anyway, why are you helping me get the chip out? You know I'll just go back to killing."  
  
"Well, I found a spell. Would you be willing to forego killing Buffy and the rest of us, as long as you could still fight, feed, and kill things?"  
  
Spike thought for a moment, then nodded. Much as he would have loved torturing Xander in particular, he found he could give it up for the thought of not having to bag his blood anymore. "Yeah, I guess so."  
  
"I need some of your blood for the spell, then I'll give you the address. Then you give me the money, then I'll give you the name of the forensic doctor. OK?" Willow asked.  
  
"How can I trust you to work a decent spell? Last time all hell broke loose, figuratively speaking," Spike asked.  
  
Willow raised her eyebrows as her face took on a curiously sophisticated expression. "Last time you got a chance to be with Buffy for twenty four hours with no consequences, Spike. I think you of all people ought to trust me on this one."  
  
With an astonishing nonchalance, Spike vamped out and bit his own wrist. His blood began to drip down his hand and off the ends of his fingers. He coolly cought some of it in a paper cup someone had left on the floor and handed it to Willow. "This enough?"  
  
Slightly sickened at the sight of the blood, and by the utter disregard for pain which marked his action, Willow nodded and handed him a slip of paper. He read it and nodded, face sliding back into its human planes again. He smirked. "Near the Bronze. Might have known it. He always liked to spy on the slayer and the rest of you." His smirk widened into a devilish grin. "Not that I blame him."  
  
"Wh-where's my money?" Willow asked, suddenly needing a little fresh air.  
  
Spike kept his grin. "It's at the apartment, I hope. Come on. I'll let you come with me to protect me from all the muggers out there that I can't hit. Yet," he predicted darkly.  
  
Willow had no choice but to go along.  
  
To her surprise, Angel had indeed stashed a great deal of cash in his apartment. Spike whooped when he found the cash, quickly tossed a couple of bills to Willow, and pocketed the rest. "Now listen, little witch. I don't want this spell to go wrong. I don't want it to hurt. And I want to get this chip out of my head today. Can you give me the name of that doctor?"  
  
Willow gave him the doctor's name and Spike took off.  
  
Faith, to her own great surprise, was enjoying life as Liz Corey. Dave had given her permission to stay in the tiny apartment behind the dance studio for a modest fee that was deducted from her pay. To her surprise, she discovered that she was a terrific Aerobics instructor and lifeguard. She enjoyed the workouts and helping other people make their bodies stronger and healthier. Sometimes she went out at night and slew the odd vampire, but mostly she went clubbing. It was just like her old life in Boston, except that she found she liked dancing more than she used to like hooking up with guys. She hadn't been with a single boy since she moved here and, though she didn't even know it, she was beginning to attain a certain poise, a dignity to her demeanor totally at odds with her prior sultry earthiness.  
  
Faith, as Liz, was enjoying her first week of total independence.  
  
Towards the end of it, her new boss Dave asked her out on a date. She turned him down. June, the receptionist, had heard the request and talked to her about it later. "He's a real gentleman, honey. The genuine article. Unless you're a lesbian or carrying a torch for someone else, you ought to go with him."  
  
"Uh... yeah, well..." Faith stammered. "My, uh, dad died recently and I don't feel like getting involved with anything till I get over it." She leaned companionably on the front desk where June was sitting.  
  
"Oh, poor thing," June commiserated. "Were you close to him?"  
  
"He was the only man in my life who ever loved me," Faith said with a quiet simplicity. "He was the mayor in a small California town, his wife had died long ago, and he adopted me. He didn't have to, but he did."  
  
"Well, Liz, maybe you ought to give Dave a chance. He sounds like the same kind of guy."  
  
Faith smiled bitterly. "He wouldn't be interested in me if he knew me."  
  
June looked up in surprise. "Liz, honey, don't sell yourself so short. You're an amazing woman. You're smart, beautiful, strong -- why, any one would be lucky to go out with you for an evening!"  
  
Faith laughed. "Maybe I should go out with you!"  
  
June just shook her head and pointed Faith in the direction of Dave's office. "Go on. Tell him you changed your mind."  
  
Faith went. To her great surprise, she had a good time. Dave didn't seem to want anything from her and, while it was strange, she determined to enjoy it as long as it lasted. She could always find another job later when she found out what he wanted from her.  
  
Willow, upon returning to campus from Angel's apartment, raced over to Tara's room. "I got them!"  
  
"Did you have any trouble?" Tara asked.  
  
"Surprisingly, no. They both just handed it over. So I think we can get right to work."  
  
"Willow, are you sure this is the right thing to do?" Tara was full of anxiety regarding this particular spell. Some of the details were still a bit... ambiguous.  
  
"Sure, Tara. It's all pretty simple, isn't it? Through this spell, Spike won't ever be able to do anything Buffy wouldn't do. Which means he won't kill people but he'll still be able to kill demons. And he'll be able to defend himself if he has to. What could go wrong?"  
  
Tara said nothing, but mentally crossed her fingers as they sat down and joined hands. They closed their eyes and began to synchronize their breathing and relax.  
  
When they'd both arrived at a light trance state, Willow dropped her friend's hands and picked up Buffy's bloody shirt. Carefully, she poured Spike's blood onto it, wrapped it up, and placed it in a metal bowl in the center of the circle where the two of them sat. She lit a match and touched off the blood-mingled shirt, then joined hands with Tara again. The two girls began to chant together.  
  
_"Let this vampire be free from his demon nature.  
  
Let him be bound to the will of this slayer.  
  
Let his spirit cleave to hers  
  
And yet remain his own.  
  
Let it be so."  
_  
The girls dropped hands and Tara jokingly began to sing, "Let him fight for the right, without question or pause and be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause..." She smiled sheepishly at Willow's bewildered expression. "I, uh, just saw 'Man of La Mancha,'" she explained.  
  
Willow smiled and shrugged. "Well, _'let it be so_,'" she said, echoing the activating phrase of the spell. The two girls giggled.  
  
Willow waited a few hours, then called the doctor she had set Spike up with, to see how he was doing. She learned he was beginning to wake from the anesthesia, and that the doctor was saving the chip for her.  
  
Then she checked her email. She clicked on the new message from Angel, and her mouth fell open in shock. "Oh, no!" she moaned.  
  
"What is it, Willow?" Tara asked.  
  
"Oh, no," Willow groaned again. "Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no!"  
  
"Willow?" Tara touched her on the shoulder. Her friend looked up, stricken. "What's wrong?"  
  
Willow pointed to the screen wordlessly. She buried her face in her hands. "We did it wrong!" 


	2. Chapter 2

The message from Angel read:  
  
_Hi Willow, This is just a reminder that you have to change the words of the spell -- instead of "let his spirit cleave to hers," you have to say something like "let his spirit be bound by hers." Otherwise you will have performed a vampire wedding ceremony instead of a binding! But I'm sure you already knew that -- I just thought I'd remind you just in case. It's better to be safe than sorry.  
  
Are you sure it wouldn't be better to just stake him? Well, I guess you and Giles know what you're doing. Good luck with the spell.  
  
Angel  
  
PS Cordelia says hi and she had a commercial audition today. Some kind of pine-scented grease remover, I think it was. She just knows this will be "the one."  
_  
"I'm dead, I'm so dead," Willow moaned. "Did you see what he said? The problem is, Giles didn't know what I was doing! And neither did Buffy! And when Angel finds out I did it wrong..." She shook her head, not raising it from her hands.  
  
Tara stroked her hair. "Then we'll just have to make sure it was the right thing to do," she said with quiet determination.  
  
"And he has the chip out now, so we can't undo the spell -- and oh, we can't undo it anyway because the shirt is burned." Willow sat and shook for a moment longer, then Tara's words reached her conscious mind. "Wha- what'd you say?"  
  
"I said we'll have to make sure it was the right thing to do." Tara smiled at her fellow witch's bewildered expression and explained. "Look, Spike told you he was in love with Buffy, right? How he tried and tried to forget her, but couldn't? Well, right after that you had Buffy telling you how she wanted a guy who wanted her and only her. Spike does seem to. And you told me before about Drusilla, how much he loved her, so we know he can love and love deeply."  
  
Willow's face was thoughtful now, and she was paying attention.  
  
Tara continued, "So all we have to do is find out if Buffy likes him too, or would if she knew how he felt. I think you should set them up. Sort of like a blind date, except neither one will know it's a date."  
  
Willow shrugged. If there was any way to salvage this situation, she was willing to try it. First, she had to talk to Spike.  
  
It turned out to be easier than she thought. He showed up at her room shortly after he woke up from the anesthesia and banged hard on her door, scowling.  
  
"Come in," she called.  
  
"Red," he said as he entered, "Someday you're going to have to learn not to say that to vampires!" He approached the bed and grabbed her, his face slipping into its vampire mask as he did so. Then he let her go and said, "What the hell? I've got the chip out; why can't I bite you?"  
  
"Um, the spell. It's because of the spell." Willow explained, puzzled. He already knew this.  
  
"Oh, bloody hell," he said, sinking down on the bed next to her. "I didn't think it would actually work!" He hung his head in disappointment.  
  
"Spike?" Willow didn't know quite how to approach this. "I sort of made a mistake with the spell."  
  
His head shot up and he glared at her. "Why, oh, why, am I so completely unsurprised by that?" he growled. "All right, what did you do this time?"  
  
"Well, it was the original wording of the spell, something about the spirits cleaving to each other, and I should have changed it to your spirit being bound by hers. It was just so you wouldn't be able to do anything, or hurt anyone, that Buffy wouldn't hurt. I figured that would keep us safe, and would still let you hunt but not kill people."  
  
Spike growled again, his eyes flashing yellow briefly. He got control of himself, and said, "Go on. What happens now?"  
  
"Well, Angel told me that the original was some sort of... vampire marriage ceremony. I guess I accidently married you and Buffy."  
  
"Bloody hell!" Spike roared, leaping to his feet. He began to pace the room in tight arcs, moving like a coiled spring. "Not that I wouldn't, but what the hell is she going to say? I take it you haven't told her yet?"  
  
Willow shook her head. "I'm afraid there's no way to undo the spell, either. I was hoping maybe you could... I don't know, talk to her. Tell her how you feel? She told me --" Willow stopped talking abruptly, feeling as if she were betraying her best friend.  
  
Spike sat down next to her again, and when he spoke, his voice was quiet. "Come on, Willow. What did the slayer tell you? Something about me? Tell me," he urged.  
  
Haltingly, Willow explained a little of what Buffy had told her the day before. The more she talked, the more Spike began to smile.  
  
Finally, he stood up again. "All right, listen. Tomorrow night, you're going to tell the slayer you heard of something bad happening at the Bronze. It'll be me. I'll, uh, 'talk' to the slayer, and we'll see what happens."  
  
"I can do that," Willow said.  
  
Spike nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave. He stopped with the door open. "Oh, and Red? You're sleeping somewhere else tomorrow night. Got that?" He disappeared out the door.  
  
Willow nodded, then began to blush as the implications of his last order reached her. She shrugged, the blush still staining her cheeks, and began to pack an overnight bag.  
  
When Buffy got back, Willow told her she'd heard of something going on at the Bronze that night that the slayer might want to know about.  
  
Buffy swallowed it with no trouble. Willow breathed a sigh of relief -- and then realized she still had to "'fess" up to Giles. Buffy left for her evening history class and Willow wearily picked up the phone.  
  
When Buffy finished class she went to dinner, then went back to her room to change. She found Willow zipping up her overnight bag. "Hey, Will, where you going?"  
  
"Uh, home. For the night. Gotta see mom and dad, y'know." Willow laughed nervously.  
  
"In the middle of the week? What's the emergency?" Buffy wanted to know. She opened the closet and began perusing it for a good outfit to wear to the Bronze.  
  
"Oh, no emergency. I just feel like I shouldn't be around tonight. I mean, that I should be home tonight," Willow said.  
  
Buffy shrugged. "Okay. Hey, what should I wear tonight? Should I go for functional --" she held up one outfit, " -- or sexy?"  
  
Willow considered the two. Cocking her head on one side, she went into the closet and pulled out a third outfit: some black spandex leggings and a red halter top. "How about both?" she suggested.  
  
"Will, you're a genius!" Buffy cried. "Gotta look good when I take down the baddies tonight!" She began to change as Willow laughingly bid her good night.  
  
Buffy caught sight of a new face at the Bronze that night. A dark-haired young man in his mid-twenties leaned against the bar nursing his drink and surveying the room with bored eyes. Buffy noticed him right away, and did an appreciative scan down his body. Hair: dark and wavy, cut short. Face: pale, with dark, midnight-blue eyes and chiseled features. His face looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. Body: lean, muscled, scarred. He wore a blue shirt tucked into his dark blue jeans, tucked into his... Combat boots? Buffy's eyes shot up to his face again, aghast to discover why he had looked so familiar.  
  
"Spike?" Her lips formed the shape of his name. She instinctively melted back into the crowd as his gaze swept her way. She wanted to watch him for a while, figure out why he had changed his 'look.' His dark hair had thrown her. She inched over to the stairs and hid behind them to study him.  
  
She wasn't the only one who had noticed him; he was popular at the Bronze tonight. Girl after girl approached him. Dark, fair, ruddy -- he surveyed them all with an expression that judged them and found them wanting. He wasn't very polite about it, but he didn't hurt them. He just coldly informed each of them he was waiting for someone special. The implication that he didn't find them in the least bit special was also clear.  
  
This went on for some time, until one of the girls told her boyfriend on him. The burly football player approached Spike, evidently not thinking the slender Englishman would be much of a threat. "You just insulted my girl!"  
  
Spike took a leisurely sip of his drink and finished his cigarette. He snuffed it out with great care and eventually deigned to swivel his head around towards the jock. "If she's your girl, why did she just offer herself to me? You not getting the job done?"  
  
The jock swung at him, cracking the vampire in the jaw. Spike took it, then put down his bottle and punched the guy in the face rapidly four times. The first split his lower lip, the second gave him a black eye, and the third and fourth broke and bloodied his nose. Spike smiled at the guy and carefully, deliberately, licked the jock's blood off his knuckles.  
  
The man bolted. Spike grinned. Buffy gasped. Spike had shown no signs of pain while he was hitting the guy. Had he somehow gotten the chip removed?  
  
Buffy decided it was time she found out what he was doing, who he was waiting for. She came out from behind the stairs and his eyes found her instantly, as if drawn to her. "Spike," she greeted warily. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Slayer..." he murmured. He smiled. "Remember when I told you we were going to have a confrontation? Well, the condition has been met."  
  
Buffy was confused. "What? No, actually, I don't remember."  
  
He scowled. "Oh, you're not pleading temporary amnesia for that night, are you? It was only a week ago you were here, breathing on me and squeezing my parts and driving me insane like the bitch you are." He mimicked her voice, "'Because it's wrong!'"  
  
Buffy blinked. A week ago? She'd been Faith then! Oh, hell, what had Faith done? Apparently, driven the vampire insane! "Spike... I don't really remember a week ago. Faith switched our bodies for 24 hours. It was her who was... doing whatever she was doing to you."  
  
Spike walked slowly towards her, his eyes hard and unreadable. She backed up a little as he invaded her personal space, but he just kept coming, until she was backed up against the wall with his body inches away from hers. He trapped her with his arms, leaning his hands against the wall on either side of her. Then he spoke. "I don't bloody care," he said, his voice grating. He took one more small step and closed the space between them, and Buffy gasped at the feel of his body full length against hers. "It was all stuff you would have said if you'd let yourself."  
  
Buffy's heart was pounding. He was standing so close! She had never really seen his face at close range when they weren't fighting. His eyes weren't really just blue; they contained different colors radiating out from the pupil. She noticed the scar on his eyebrow and, without thinking, reached up and traced it with a finger. His eyes closed. She let her hand wander gently across his forehead to his sharp cheekbone, to his lips. She traced his bottom lip with her thumb... then realized what she was doing and dropped her hand. What on earth was wrong with her?  
  
His eyes snapped open again, blazing. He lowered his head and caught her lips with his own, imprinting the taste of him on her over and over again. Buffy's memory blazed up at the touch, of when they were spell-bound and engaged to be married -- but at the same time, it was nothing like it. That time, their kisses had been sweet, tender, chaste.  
  
This was nothing like that. This was raw, searing, a conflagration of passion. And, Buffy thought candidly, a long time coming.  
  
When they finally parted, Buffy leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes to catch her breath. Spike took this opportunity to begin kissing and nibbling her throat.  
  
A high school student walked by and snorted. "Geez, look at you two," she said. "Get a room, for heaven's sake!"  
  
Spike growled, "Good idea. Let's go."  
  
"My room," Buffy said, a little breathless. "Willow's gone." She didn't understand why Willow had been so insistant about going home, but now she was glad of it. She still didn't meet Spike's eyes, but kept hers downcast until they got to her dorm room. The walk across campus was odd -- they walked apart, not touching, but twice Spike grabbed her and kissed her brutally in the middle of the walkway. Then he growled and pushed her away as if she burned him.  
  
They got to her room and there was silence. He sat down on the edge of Willow's bed, and she sat on hers. "Whoever you were waiting for at the Bronze is going to be disappointed," she said inanely.  
  
"I hope she won't," he said with a slightly suggestive note in his voice. "It was you."  
  
Now she met his eyes with shock, remembering how he'd treated all those other girls. He smiled. Buffy shook her head in wonder.  
  
"Spike, what are we doing? And more importantly, why?"  
  
"We're going to finally get what we've both been wanting." He slid off the bed and sat down beside her, tilting her face up to kiss. "We've wanted each other for years, haven't we, Slayer?"  
  
She wanted to protest, but the silky feel of his lips on hers drowned out all her coherent thoughts. She tried to think of Riley, to save herself, but she only remembered why she had broken up with him. And here was Spike, who had been standing there at the bar waiting for her. For only her, and no one else would do.  
  
She leaned into the kiss, her hands going around his neck. She tried to deny the truth of what Spike had said, but he was right. Just as he'd been right last year, about what he'd said to her and Angel. She was struck by a realization: he had wanted her, even back then! And, if she were brutally honest with herself, she'd been interested in him, too. The fight, with both of them on the same side, had been wildly exhilerating -- and in retrospect, she didn't think it had been just the adrenaline.  
  
Adrenaline. She had it pumping through her veins this very moment. She broke away from the kiss. "No, Spike, this is wrong. It's all wrong."  
  
He backed off and growled, instantly going vampiric. "If you're playing that game again, Slayer, I'll kill you."  
  
"No, I just mean..." She pulled him to his feet and hit him in the stomach. "Fight?"  
  
His eyes lit up and he smiled, his face going back into its smooth human planes. "I thought you'd never ask!" It had been months, literally, since they'd been able to fight, and he relished the chance. He struck her face. She kicked his head. He shoved her into the dresser. She recovered and kicked his legs from under him.  
  
As he fell, he reached up and brought her down with him. He grinned. "If you wanted to be on top, Slayer, you only had to ask!" This brought him another punch in the face and an answering grin from the slayer. He rolled over, taking her with him, so he was on top now, straddling her hips and holding her down. His hard, lean body was pressed intimately against hers and his dark blue eyes bored into hers with an expression that was intense to the point of fanaticism.  
  
Her hazel eyes were wide and dark, looking up at him. As if she were not the one in the submissive position, she licked her lips and asked, "Had enough?"  
  
He shook his head. "Never." He claimed her lips again, and again. They moved to the bed, breathing hard, touching each other. Rough hard fists that had struck Buffy's body in the past opened now, sensitive, and roamed her curves and gently unfastened and unzipped her clothing.. Buffy's hands wandered up his chest, pushing his unbuttoned shirt off his shoulders.  
  
Then she stopped. She looked into his dark eyes and asked pointedly, "Are you going to be staying around after?"  
  
He grabbed her and pulled her down next to him. "Slayer," he said, punctuating his words with kisses. "Haven't I proven to you yet," he nipped at her neck, "that you can't get rid of me if you try?"  
  
Buffy relaxed into his caresses and soon forgot any misgivings -- or indeed, any thoughts she might have had, as her body moved with Spike's and the world became just the two of them.  
  
Afterwards, when she expected him to be dressing and going out the door, he stayed in bed with her, holding her back against him and whispering to her. He somehow sensed her need for reassurance, especially after the terrible things he had said to her after he found out she'd been with Parker. He sensed she wouldn't believe him if he just told her she was wonderful; instead he changed the message to a Spike-style one and began cursing her past boyfriends in an erotic whisper.  
  
"That Parker was a prick. He was a fool to let you go, but I'm glad he did. Your soldier boy was an idiot. He's too wholesome for you -- he's boring. He doesn't have the capacity to appreciate you. Neither did Parker. They couldn't appreciate you, but I can. I've been waiting for you, Slayer. I've loved you for years. Even when I hated you, I loved you. And now I don't even hate you anymore."  
  
Buffy's head was spinning. Feelings toward Spike were surfacing that she hadn't known she possessed. She realized, at last, that he was exactly the man she had been wanting. They were very much alike, but just different enough to be complementary. And hearing her mortal enemy tell her he'd loved her for years made her remember once again when they had been spell bound. In her memory, she heard her own voice telling Riley, "We fought for all these years because we were trying to deny how we really felt!" She smiled, closing her eyes and nestling back against her lover's lean body.  
  
She hadn't known sex could be like that! When she'd been with Parker and Riley, she'd had to concentrate so hard on not hurting them, she couldn't really just give in and enjoy the experience. Spike was different. He was as strong as she was, and just as passionate. She listened to his husky whisper and felt, for the first time in years, completely happy. She turned around in his arms to face him.  
  
Then she noticed all the scars. They were everywhere on his body: over his shoulder and down his chest, criss-crossing his back and chest like a grid. Several spiralled down his legs and one particularly nasty one went all the way up and ended in a large patch of red, roughened skin on his inner thigh right next to his groin. Buffy gasped.  
  
"Oh, my God, what happened to you, Spike?" She asked.  
  
He shrugged. "Live as long as I do, you're bound to collect a few momentoes," he said.  
  
"But these all look as though they happened the same time," Buffy persisted. "In recent years, too, from the looks of them."  
  
Spike gave her a warning glance. "Slayer, pet, it's really none of your business." He tried to soften his message by placing a gentle kiss beside her mouth.  
  
"Spike, someone hurt you. I'd like to know who so I can kick their ass," Buffy insisted.  
  
"You really care about me that much, Slayer?" The serious expression in his eyes belied his teasing tone of voice. He lazily stroked down her back, shoulder to hip -- just to enjoy the fact that he finally could.  
  
"I'm starting to think I can't do without you, Spike," Buffy replied honestly. "Which is why I want to prevent whoever gave you all those scars from ever hurting you again."  
  
Spike smiled mischevously. "I'd be so grateful if you would, Slayer, since I don't think I can hurt this person anymore. Ever. At all."  
  
"Who is it?" Buffy demanded.  
  
Spike rolled onto his back and stretched out, folding his hands under his head. "Well, it all started when this hot little chit of a slayer took exception to my trying to kill her, and threw an organ at me." He grinned.  
  
Buffy hit him with her pillow repeatedly, until Spike grabbed her and kissed her thoroughly into submission. "All right, all right, I won't throw organs at you anymore!" she said, smiling into his eyes. "So, I have to know," she asked him. "Am I worth a second go?"  
  
For his answer, he took her again. And again. And just before dawn, he informed her, "You'll never be rid of me, Slayer." He fell asleep.  
  
"Good," Buffy said quietly to his sleeping body, before drifting off herself. "I don't think I want to be."  
  
The phone rang in the morning, waking both of them. Spike swore, but Buffy leaned over and picked it up.  
  
"Buffy?" It was Willow.  
  
"Yeah, Will. What's up?" Buffy tried to ignore Spike's hands caressing her body.  
  
"I, uh, just called to see if you went to the Bronze last night."  
  
Buffy gave the sleepy, growling vampire a rueful smile. "Yeah, and you'll never believe what I brought home with me."  
  
"Oh, good!" Willow's excited voice carried easily to Spike's sharp vampire ears. "Hi, Spike!"  
  
"Hey, Red," he drawled laconically. "Hang up, will you? I want to get back to what I was doing."  
  
"Willow, what's going on?" Buffy demanded, ignoring Spike's attempts to hang up the phone.  
  
"Uh, ask Spike. He can give you all the details. Bye!" Willow hung up.  
  
Buffy snorted, disgusted. "I'll bet he can. Well, Spike?"  
  
"Red made a condition to helping me get that chip out of my head. She linked my blood to yours with a spell -- so basically, I can't ever do anything you wouldn't do. I can't kill people, but I can hit hit them if I have to, to defend myself. I still have to drink blood, but at least I can get it from animals instead of buying it. I can still kill demons. I'm basically a male slayer who happens to still be a vampire."  
  
"And where do I fit in?"  
  
He smiled and touched a lock of her hair, curling it around his finger. His fingertips just barely brushed her cheek. "You're my humanizing influence. You're what keeps me from killing. I can't do anything you wouldn't do, so if by any chance you felt like becoming a serial killer... Just go with it!"  
  
Buffy glared at him, but got sidetracked by his hair. Running her fingers through the dark wavy strands, she asked, "So, why the new look? I almost didn't recognize you in the Bronze, you know."  
  
He shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "Oh, well, you know... New man, new life, new look." He looked up a little shyly. "Do you like?"  
  
"Oh, I like," Buffy said. "I definitely approve." She thought a moment, then said, "I can see what you mean by 'new look,' and the 'new man' is because you've got the chip out. But what do you mean by new life?"  
  
Spike sat up abruptly. "You're really one for the hard questions, aren't you, Slayer?" he said gruffly. He reached for his trousers and pulled them on, avoiding her detaining hands.  
  
She stopped him and made him look at her. "If I ask hard questions, it's because they need answers, Spike. So answer! You said you wouldn't run away."  
  
"Slayer, I don't want to tell you because I want you to decide for yourself! All right? I don't want that little witch arranging our whole lives for us without giving at least one of us a choice."  
  
"How can I choose if I don't know what the choices are?" Buffy asked, her voice rising in anger.  
  
Spike pulled away and grabbed his shirt, pulling it quickly over his head. He slipped his feet into the boots without bothering to lace them. "Talk to your roommate, Slayer. Have her tell you about the total balls-up she made of that spell. Then if you want to talk to me, come by the cemetery tonight. You know where to find me if you want me."  
  
He headed for the door, then stopped and swore. He went back to her, grabbed the back of her head and kissed her hard and thoroughly. He said, "And remember what I said last night. It's the truth. See you later, Slayer."  
  
And he was gone out the door, leaving Buffy sitting alone in her bed, her eyes full of angry tears. "Ass!" she grated, looking at the door. "You said you'd stay!" Angrily, she picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Willow? We need to talk."


	3. Chapter 3 and Epilogue

Chapter 3  
  
After hearing Willow's explanation of the error and the miscast spell's ramifications, Buffy spent much of the day in thought. If Spike really did love her, then he might not mind being married to her. She thought of Willow's last spell and almost laughed out loud, remembering the argument she and Spike had had about where their wedding was to be. If this spell really did constitute a sort of vampire marriage, it was a far cry from the church wedding he'd envisioned with dread. She wondered if it were still valid, since it had taken place in a college dorm room with neither the bride nor the groom present!  
  
Her thoughts bounced all over, from being glad about its being Spike, to being horrified at the thought of marrying a vampire. She decided that, yes, she did have to talk to Spike about it, and as soon as dusk fell she headed for the cemetery.  
  
Two new vampires had risen there, and she quickly dispatched them both... and then heard the familiar sound of Spike's teasing applause. "Nice work, luv," he said, echoing his own words from years ago -- the first time they had met.  
  
She turned towards him and gasped. In the light of the streetlamp she could see the bruises on his face and the blood on his mouth. "Spike?" She went and touched his face gently, questioningly.  
  
"Oh, I know what you're thinking, pet," he said. "But don't worry. It's all mine," he gestured to the blood.  
  
She glared at him. "That wasn't what I was thinking, you twit. I was actually wondering who did this to you so I could beat them up."  
  
"Ah, it's nothing really. I'll be right as rain by tomorrow." He gazed at Buffy in the moonlight and his face softened. He reached out to gently stroke her hair. "Cor, I'm glad to see you. I didn't know if you'd want anything to do with me after you found out about the spell."  
  
"I almost didn't, after you left the way you did," Buffy told him honestly. She began to clean him up a little. "So what happened to you today, anyway?"  
  
"Nothing much. Made a little trip to LA to visit relatives."  
  
Buffy said nothing, wondering who his relatives were. Then it hit her. "You went to see Angel? Did he do this to you?"  
  
He nodded, then looked affronted. "For some strange reason, he didn't think we should be together. Can you imagine?"  
  
Buffy's thoughts crystalized. She hadn't been able to make up her mind all day long, with her mind pinballing all over the place, but now, hearing about Angel's reaction, everything fell into place. "What, he wants to play dog-in-the-manger now? He doesn't want me, but he doesn't want me with anyone else either," she fumed. "Well, he's the one who left me, and he said he did it so I could move on! I finally do, and he beats the guy up! Ohhhh!" She gave a passable rendition of a growl.  
  
Spike gave her a predatory smile, thinking of the damage she might do to his sire next time they met. "I love you, Slayer," he said happily. He took two steps forward, closing the distance between them and took her in his arms. "So, wanna marry me?" he teased.  
  
She started to calm down. "I think it's a done deal, mister," she said. "Not that I'm that upset about it."  
  
They kissed fervently there in the cemetery, the caresses gradually becoming more heated. They melted to the ground and as their bodies merged and moved together, Spike looked into her eyes. "The spell makes me yours, Slayer, but whose are you?"  
  
And again, "Whose are you, Slayer?"  
  
And as her body's reactions sped up and took her by storm, Buffy gasped out, "Yours!"  
  
Spike morphed into his vampiric visage and triumphantly claimed her with his fangs. To his surprise, she bit him back, drawing a little blood and marking him as hers. "Mine," she purred, smiling a very feminine smile.  
  
He changed back into his human face and shook his head, collapsing beside her. "Yours," he agreed. He was content.  
  
The dark-haired vampire who had created Spike decided he had seen enough to know that they really were bonded, in both the human and the vampire cultures. He now had proof that Spike really did love Buffy and would never hurt her. In fact, he would be able to love Buffy in ways that he himself would never be able to. Angel just wondered how long it would last. He quietly left the cemetery so he wouldn't disturb them and headed back to L.A.  
  
Epilogue One year later  
  
"Dave, there are some things you need to know about me," Liz Corey told her boyfriend. "I think we're getting serious and it's important to me that you know the truth."  
  
"I'm listening," Dave said.  
  
"No, you're playing with my hair, but maybe you can multi-task," Liz teased before getting into the heavy stuff. "First of all, my legal name isn't Elizabeth Corey. It's Faith. And I'm a renegade Vampire Slayer who is wanted for murder in California."  
  
Dave blinked. "Did you actually commit the murder?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, but it was an accident," she admitted. "I thought he was a vampire."  
  
Dave had had a lot to learn about the darker aspects of life, but Liz had tutored him gently. He now knew that vampires and other demons existed, and he knew of the theoretical existence of the Slayer -- but he'd never dreamed that his girlfriend was one. He shook his head. Liz was the best thing that ever happened to him, or to his gym, and he wasn't going to lose her.  
  
"So... do we run and hide, or do you turn yourself in?" he asked.  
  
Liz sighed. She had gone through some big changes since she'd been in Reno, and she knew already what her answer would be. "I'm going back to Sunnydale," she said.  
  
"I'm going with you," Dave promised. "We'll hire the best lawyer I know, which should be easy since June's married to him. We'll get you in and out of there in no time... and then maybe you and I can work out something more permanant?" He asked hopefully.  
  
"What, you want to get married or something?" Liz was incredulous. She was stunned when he nodded. "Really? Well... I guess we can talk about it. After we find out how long I'll be in pokey," she said. She sighed again.  
  
"We'll head out tomorrow," Dave said. "And Liz? Don't worry. I'll be with you."  
  
"Ya know, Boss, that does make me feel better!"  
  
"Angel, what brings you to town?" Spike greeted his sire with a sarcastic tone. He purposely didn't invite the vampire in, and he chuckled when Angel tried to come in and was stopped by the invisible barrier. He watched realization dawn in the vampire's eyes that Spike lived in this apartment with a human, and that it had to be Buffy.  
  
"I was just in town and thought I'd see how things are going," Angel said lamely. He had in fact found out everything he needed to know already, due to the fact that he couldn't get in.  
  
"Spike? Who's there?" Buffy asked, coming up to the door. "Oh, hi, Angel. What are you doing here?"  
  
"Just stopping by to say hi," he said. "I was, uh, in the neighborhood."  
  
"What, you're not going to beat up Spike just for old time's sake?" Buffy asked snidely.  
  
Spike smiled. "You know, I never properly thanked you for doing that before," he said to his sire. He turned and kissed his wife deeply for a long moment. When Buffy paused to take a breath, he shot Angel a quick glance and said, "Thanks!"  
  
Buffy kissed her husband again, hungrily. "Yeah, thanks, Angel." Angel just barely caught her last words as she slowly closed the door behind them with her foot.  
  
"Anytime," he said quietly to the closed door. He heaved a big, unnecessary sigh and headed over to Giles'.  
  
"Angel! Did you see Buffy?" Giles asked the morose vampire at his door.  
  
"Briefly. Before she was swallowed by Spike," he sighed again.  
  
"Yes, I must admit that their... partnership took some getting used to," Giles allowed. "But it does seem to be a good one in many ways." He motioned the vampire in and showed him to a chair.  
  
"What... ways?" Angel asked in a strained voice after he had been sitting in silence for a moment.  
  
"Well, he's a good sparring partner for her. He helps with the slaying, much the way you used to. Only he tends to be more involved with everything. And I never thought I'd say this, but he makes Buffy happy. They're a good match."  
  
"I'm glad," Angel forced himself to say. "I only made her miserable."  
  
Giles couldn't argue, and an uncomfortable silence fell on the room. Finally, he spoke. "Did you bring the information I needed?"  
  
"Oh, yeah." Angel dug in his coat pocket and handed Giles a computer disk and a sheaf of papers. "Hope it helps."  
  
"I - I'm sure it will," Giles said. "Thank you, Angel."  
  
Angel returned to LA that night, and was surprised to find he had a client. "Hello, Faith." "Hi, Angel. This is Dave. We need your help. Do you happen to know any decent cops?" Angel could have smiled, if his had been a smiling nature. Buffies might come and go, but he had a job to do.  
  
END 


End file.
